USC turned 143 years young Friday. When the University was born, the United States was on its 19th president, the country’s population was only 50 million, and Wabash, Indiana had just become the first electrically lit city in the entire world. The U.S. has changed a lot since then, and so has USC. Here’s a recap of some of the most notable changes:
Growing Numbers
When USC first opened, it had only 53 students and 10 teachers. Today, the university’s student body is at nearly 50,000. Additionally, USC now employs around 22,000 faculty and staff.
In 1930, USC ranked third in the nation in international enrollment, as 10% of the student body was from outside the United States. Today, 26% of students are international.
While the acceptance rate for the 2023-2024 school year was just 10%, it hasn’t always been this low. In 1997, USC dropped below a 50% acceptance rate for the first time.
The University was first opened as an affiliate of the Methodist Church, but severed all ties in 1952. Today, USC has a multifaith University Religious Center which hosts students and events of many religions, including Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.
Building Up and Onwards
The first class of students at USC were limited to one building: Widney Hall (now known as the Widney Alumni House). Since then, USC has added, changed and torn down many of the structures that make campus what it is today.
The newest group of buildings, those being the USC Village and Wallis Annenberg Hall, were built during the tenure of former university president C. L. Max Nikias. They prominently feature a “Collegiate Gothic-style architecture,” according to The Architect’s Newspaper.
One of the more notable changes is the 2021 rededication of the Joseph Medicine Crow Center for International & Public Affairs, formerly known as the Von KleinSmid Center. USC decided to change the building’s name after reckoning with KleinSmid’s history with eugenics.
Academia
In that first campus building, students only learned from the liberal arts. In 1898, USC added its first college of medicine and dentistry. Today, the university has accumulated 23 schools across multiple campuses, including one recently opened in Washington, D.C. The most recent school to be added is the Iovine and Young Academy, which is celebrating its 10th cohort this year.
Today, USC is regarded as a top research university; and it continues to add pioneering projects to its already impressive repertoire. Just this year, the University announced an over $1 billion initiative in computing including a new School of Advanced Computing, which will be housed in the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall — currently scheduled to open in 2024.
Sporting & Spirit
USC played and won its first ever football game against the Alliance Athletic Club in 1888, 35 years before the coliseum became its home turf. Today, USC Football boasts seven Heisman Trophy winners, including Caleb Williams in 2022. The Trojans now play in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which celebrated its 100th birthday earlier this year.
In 1904, Emil Breitkreutz became the first USC student to win an Olympic medal when he came third in the 800 meter run. Since Breitkreutz’s bronze performance, USC has built an impressive Olympic repertoire, sending 472 Trojans to Olympic games and earning 305 total medals, 144 of which are gold. If USC participated in the Olympic games as its own country, it would rank 13th in the world in all-time Summer Olympics medals, according to a University website.
In April, the University rededicated one of its fields to Allyson Felix, the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history. She has won 11 total Olympic medals, seven of which are gold. Felix graduated from USC in 2008 with a degree in elementary education.
Despite the moniker’s presence on many a school t-shirts, the Trojans weren’t always named the Trojans. Due to USC’s previous religious affiliations, the University’s athletic teams used to be known as the “USC Methodists.” In 1912, sportswriter Owen R. Bird nicknamed the athletic teams the “Trojans,” and it stuck.